POOR Bishop Auckland. Its name, and that of its football club, is being dragged through the mire by the violence that erupted at a match in Staffordshire at the weekend.

But some of the statistics are revealing. The police say about 250 people from Bishop Auckland went to Burton on Saturday. Given that the Bishops' usual crowd for home games is about 200 and, at times, there are no more than 20 who travel to away games, it is curious that so many should have chosen to make the journey all the way to the Potteries on the same day.

Unless, of course, they knew that something more 'entertaining' than an FA Trophy tie was in the offing.

The people of Bishop, then, have the answer in their own hands. There must be more than a few in the town who wonder why their next door neighbour or workmate or the oaf in the corner of the local pub decided to make this unusual day-out. The local police should be interested to hear.

This is the second time in three years that the Bishops' name has been sullied. In March 1997, seven Bishop Auckland men in their late twenties and early thirties were convicted of public order offences following a brawl at a game at Altrincham.

There were said to be about 40 people involved in that affray, yet only eight were charged. As the police appear to have plenty of video recordings of Saturday's incident in which 100 people were involved, the public will this time be expecting that far more than eight find themselves in the dock.

The 1997 escapade cost the seven guilty men between £200 and £350 each in fines and compensation, with the average pay-out about £250.

A journey across to Manchester costs money. A ticket to the game costs money. Food costs money. Copious amounts of alcohol cost even more money. To men prepared to pay that sort of money for a day's fighting, £250 is no more than an annoying tickle across the wrists.

This time, the magistrates have to make these silly individuals pay for their stupidity so that it really isn't worthwhile getting involved again.

But, to be fair to the magistrates, in 1997 their hands were tied in that they couldn't issue orders banning the culprits from visiting football grounds. This was because the Bishop Auckland club was not of a sufficiently high status.

The law has not been changed.

Also, it is poor reflection on non-League football in the North-East. With a national radio station having recently exposed a few sad misfits in Tow Law as hooligans, its reputation has hardly been enhanced.

However these incidents - which have a tenuous football connection - are very isolated when compared with the number of games played and the thousands of spectators who have enjoyed them.